Legal Language Blog

Dual citizenship is a confusing issue, and the United States’ stance on being a US citizen and a citizen of another country can be pretty complex.

Dual citizenship is allowed in the United States, but only under certain circumstances. There are many things to consider before you seek citizenship in another country besides the one you were born in.

What Is Dual Citizenship?

Your citizenship is often determined by where you were born — if you were born in the United States, you are more than likely a US citizen.

Of course, it’s not always that simple.

Your citizenship also depends on the citizenship of your parents or other family members. Many people gain dual citizenship at their birth through their parents.

Say that a US couple has a baby while in Canada. The child born abroad is a Canadian citizen due to the place of birth, but the child also gains US citizenship because the parents are US citizens who fulfilled residency requirements.

Parents’ citizenship is almost always taken into consideration, as are the citizenship laws of the country the child is born in. Keep in mind that not all countries give automatic citizenship to a child born within their borders.

It used to be common to gain dual citizenship through marriage — but this is increasingly uncommon today, as countries around the world have regulated processes that often require applications, fees and translations of personal documents for immigration. Obtaining residency in a country through marriage is still common, but it is no longer automatic and often can’t result in dual citizenship.

Naturalization is the most common way to gain citizenship in a different country than the one where you were born. While many countries allow naturalization, they may also require that candidates for naturalization renounce their previous citizenship.

Dual Citizenship in the United States

Dual citizenship had previously been banned in the United States, but in 1967 the US Supreme Court struck down most laws forbidding dual citizenship.

However, the US government remained disdainful of dual citizenship for some time. To this day, candidates for US citizenship through naturalization are forced to (at least hypothetically) renounce their previous citizenship at the United States naturalization ceremony.

The renouncing of one’s previous citizenship is part of the oath that new US citizens must take, and failing to honor that oath could result in the loss of citizenship in the United States.

Some cases that have been brought before the Department of State in the past involve people who became naturalized US citizens but maintained a residency and life in their country of previous citizenship.

While most countries recognize the Oath of Allegiance in the United States to be a binding contract regarding one’s citizenship, other countries have stated that the oath has no effect on their own citizenship laws. The US government used to aggressively pursue these cases to get the dual citizens to renounce their citizenship, but this is no longer the case.

Additionally, young children who naturalize in the United States along with their parents didn’t take the Oath of Allegiance — even though their parents did — and can technically still hold on to their previous citizenship.

People who have held dual citizenship since birth or childhood — or who became citizens of another country after becoming a US citizen and were not asked to renounce their previous citizenship — can remain dual citizens in the United States.

Translation of Personal Documents for Dual Citizenship

When applying for US citizenship through USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services), you are required to submit copies of certain personal documents. If you are immigrating from a country that speaks a language other than English, these documents will need to be translated.

Personal documents that may require translation for US citizenship include:

Birth certificates,

Marriage certificates,

Passports, and

Immigration paperwork

When getting these documents translated, it is imperative that you work with a professional translation company such as Legal Language. We take the time to vet all of our linguists, ensuring that they are fluent in both the source and target languages. We are also able to provide certified translations of your personal documents and have years of experience in preparing documents for immigration purposes.

65 Comments:

Something much the same is my case. I was born in the U.S. been a U.S. citizen all my life but my Mother was born and raised in the U.K. I registered as a U.K. citizen to assist with the ability to work in the U.K. You need not “naturalize” per say in the U.K. you should simply register as a U.K. citizen and retain your U.S. citizenship.

I was born of An American father in the United Kingdom. My mother was British. We came to the United States when I was an infant. I have never been asked to declare my citizenship and as such I believe that I am a dual national. I also am 73 so dont have to worry about registering for the draft or anything such as that.

I was born in Canada, and have lived all my life in Canada, yet when I visit Europe the Immigration office tell me that I am not American. So, I’m Canadian, but not American, or European, or Asian or Australian. Am I Antarctican? Which other continent can a Canadian be part of?

I am a US citizen, born in California, my wife is a US Permanent Resident from Denmark. Our daughter was born in Denmark and when I applied to the US Embassy I was told that she could not be given a Permanent Residency status but must be given status as a US Citizen Born Overseas.

Denmark gave our daughter Danish citizenship so she holds citizenship and passports for both countries.
Under current EU law, (and current UK law), you can apply for UK citizenship as a person born in the UK.

I was born in Canada, moved to Us in 1965, husband past, now living back in Canada with old friend, whom I’m going to marry, went to turn in Resident card n Officer told me to apply for citizenship of Us, using my sons address as C/O, so I did, now will I be able to get citizenship of US and have dual citizenship and live in Canada, my children are all in US, but my daughter said when she became a citizen they asked her do you give up all your rights to Canada, I can’t lie to a Judge so can you help me, they have taken my money out if bank acct. and send its in process, please help, as Border@Tthousand Island Bridge Officer Bell was real rude n scared me, after I was told by Officer Kirklin st Immigration at BWI to apply, please help me understand, ty.

I was born in Romania and emigrated 36 years ago to United States. To do so I was asked to give up my Romanian citizenship. Right now I am an American citizen and proud it. I’m about to retire in 7 years and I will have time to visit and probably leave in Romania more often. Because of that I was thinking of getting my Romanian citizenship. Doing so is going to affect in any way my American citizenship? It is possible to have dual citizenship?
Thank you so much
Mariana

Hi Mariana! I’m in A similar situation if you would like to contact me I will leave my phone number and also my email so we can maybe talk about this together I was born in Brasov and left for Germany when I was 3 years old. I now currently live in Phoenix Arizona my number is 602-295-6657 and down below you will find my email thank you !

Hi Mariana, My daughter’s caregiver was surprised to be told today, after taking the test, that she would need to give up her Romanian citizenship. She had specifically told the lawyer preparing her paperwork that she wanted to keep dual citizenship. What have you found out?

If a US citizen marries a non US Citizen (Cuban) in the USA and they emigrate into Canada (1968) becoming Canadian citizens, is the woman a dual citizen? Or, did her swearing allegiance to Canada prevent that?

Citizenship is conferred by countries and may not even be desired by the person receiving it. A country can also refuse to allow its citizens to renounce citizenship. So if a law was passed such as what you suggest, then North Korea or Iran could simply give a “gift of friendship” and immediately proclaim every American to be a North Korean or Iranian citizen and then where would you be? Everyone would instantly have dual citizenship whether they liked it or not. In other words, your proposed “law” does not and cannot work. All you can do is say that you do not honor or recognize dual citizenship and you can require them to pledge their loyalty to the United States. You can also decide that if you take out citizenship by naturalizing you lose your US citizenship (though the Supreme Court actually has said that you can’t but this is what some countries do happen to do). However, you cannot tell people they cannot have dual citizenship when they were born with both another citizenship and US citizenship or because they were born with another citizenship and then later became naturalized US citizens but the foreign country does not recognize the US naturalization oath as a renouncement of its citizenship.

I was born in Australia lived in the USA for 3 years in the 1960’s my father was American mother Australian when I went to USA I had 2 passports Australian and USA. I thought my dual citizenship stop after living in the USA for a long period is this correct or do I still hold dual citizenship?

Dania,
I was born in California and automatically became US citizen. I obtain the second citizenship form my parents as Syrian citizenship. Now i am in Turkey and the Turkish Gov. offered me to become Turkish citizen without dropping and previous citizenship, that means i will have three citizenship. Is that affect my US nationality? Thank you

I was born in the US as was my father. But my mother was born in Italy and became naturalized when she was 4. My maternal and paternal grandparents were also born in Italy (now all deceased) and became naturalized. I assume this means I cannot obtain dual citizenship because all these relatives were naturalized. Is that correct.

My children’s father obtained his citizenship through another marriage. He votes in the US BUT he is also a citizen of BRITIAN as he was born on a British island. Can he lose his British citizenship for voting in the USA ?

Where is resident and where is he registered to vote? I’m UK/US living in the US. I vote in the US. I am not registered in the UK and I doubt I could legally register anyway. I doubt citizenship would be revoked but he may face voter fraud charges if he is doing something inappropriate.

Hello, Here is my situation: I was born in the US. Father is Guatemalan, Mother Bolivian. I wish to obtain my Guatemalan Passport. My father lives in Guatemala currently, so is willing to go to whatever Gov’t offices with me to undergo this declaration and such. Does anyone know if 1) I need to do this all in Guatemala City, 2) Can I do it via the Consulate here in NYC, 3) Can it be done within a few day (short trip?). I hear this is possible, I just have had a hard time gaining clarity and the Guate Consulate gives me varied information. Thank you in advance for any information shared.

Still confused! In reading these messages and the blurb above, I am non the wiser as to my status. I am a UK citizen, gained US citizenship/naturalisation, years ago, and now live back in UK. Do i have dual from a US stand point, (I know England recognises it).

Claire..once you become a US citizen, you are still a US citizen..no matter where you live in the world..and yes, the IRS will hound you wherever you are. If you don’t file and pay your taxes, they will find you, bring you back and could jail you for avoiding to pay up to Uncle Sam. If you no longer wish to remain a US citizen, then you must legally renounce the US citizenship. This will put you back to being a British citizen and a visitor to the US, if you ever go to the US again.

I am 67 years old. My father was born in the United States and my mother was Canadian. My father moved to Canada when he was 8-10 years old. Do I qualify for dual citizenship? My father had dual citizenship. If I do qualify, do I need to go through an attorney to obtain it? Thank you for any assistance you can give me.

My UK born father has recently successfully applied for dual citizenship having lived in the USA for over 20 years and also married a US citizen a couple of years ago. Does his status help me apply for a visa or green card or even US citizenship ? Planning ahead I’d like to retire to the USA if I’m able to. Thanks

Wow, I think I jumped through every loophole. I was born in England with one British parent and one American parent. . I lived in England until I was 4 and then moved to the US with my mother after she divorced my father. I now have duel citizenship.

Is it possible to get a citizenship certificate for my newborn son who was born in Canada? I would like for him to have a US citizenship certificate. His father is US citizen by birth and I am Canadian. We are currently residing in Canada but travel often between countries. Even though we are not currently living in the USA can he still obtain a certificate?

Both my Parents are US Citizens and I am a US CItizen. If I wanted to apply for Dual-Citizenship with the Kingdom of Denmark,dose that mean I HAVE TO give up my US Citizenship for good?
Dose that also mean I quite posible, can NEVER go back to my hometown,see my parents,vote in elections,etc.?

I was born in Venezuela. i moved to the states 18 years ago. i married a us citizen, and i got the permanent residence here in the states. Due to the fact that my parents are Italian, i also have the Italian citizenship So I have already 2 passport: the: the Italian and the Venezuelan.. i will like to get the us citizenship. Can i do it and have 3 nationalities:. Venezuela, Italian and American?

Astoundingly, a simple search on the Internet indicates that ~ 89% of US Senators/Congressmen have dual citizenship with Israel.

Anyway, if the principle is good enough for the Legislators then it must be good enough for you.

But it is very worrying since it shows a deep lack of sincere commitment to the USA on the part of these powerful people; they should be devoted only to the best interests of the USA, not acting as agents for a foreign power.

I vaguely recall the statement that dual citizenship for an American was allowed only by “accident of birth”. i.e. not by choice. As an American (born in the US of two US citizens), married to an Italian and living in Italy for 30 years, by US law if I become an Italian citizen must I relinquish my US citizenship? (I have no Italian ancestry.)
Thanks

I have American passport and duel citizenship i was born in the uk father is American mums British, i want to go live in America can i take my partner and 6 year old daughter to live their and will my partner be able to stay even know we are not married ? can anyone help with this please … thanks

My father was born in Italy and was not an American citizen when he married my mother. I was born in America. My question is, what steps do I need to take to get my dual citizenship with Italy? I have all my relatives in Italy.

Hello, i was born in the Philippines and moved to Canada when I was 3 years old.. i became a Canadian citizen thru my parents when I was 8… i live in the US now.. can I apply To become a US citizen (dual) without giving up on my canadian citizenship?

I appreciate any insight as I am a bit confused readling all the comments – I have two questions please. I am a UK Citizen born in Northern Ireland. I have lived in the United states as a permanent resident since the 1980’s. I would like to become a US citizen as I am married and have US children. However I still have elder family back home in the UK and want to be able to go there and work as a citizen if this was ever a need to support them. Basically I want to hold on to my citizenship for the US and UK. do I have to denounce my UK citizenship to become a citizen.. will my UK passport be no longer valid and then I would need to get a US passport. I hope my two questions are clear. I am certainly lost – kindly

Nic, if i were you I’d probably just remain a European (UK) citizen and remain a Permanent Resident of the US. Your problem will be going back and forth, working overseas and not paying taxes. Taxes is going to be your issue..
Also, you cannot keep leaving the US for lengths of time and not expect multiple questions from Immigration about it. You might end up losing your residency if they suspect anything strange. Furthermore, regardless of what everyone seems to believe in, the reality is, the US does not want their citizens swearing allegiance to them and also having an allegiance with another country. Its a tough situation and its best to stick to one thing, instead of trying to play all scenarios..coming back and forth with different citizenships and ending up owing Uncle Sam in a major way and risk losing so much. You have to make a choice and stick with it.

My son (US citizen) married A Swedish girl (she became US citizen before marriage), they now have a child.
Does this child have dual citizenship? She got him a Swedish passport after his US passport !! Is this legal ? What are the rules ? She wants to return to Sweden & take the child & not return to US…..???!!!

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